AMAZON JOURNAL

Cameraman Geoffrey O'Connor worked as a TV journalist in Brazil between 1985 and 1995- volatile years in which the movement to save the Amazon rain forest became a worldwide cause. Oddities and ironies such as the 1988 death of activist Chico Mendez, the involvement of rock star Sting, and the sudden eminence of tribal leaders Raoni and Payakan (which included guest spots, in full paint and regalia, on Phil Donahue's show) were all recorded by O'Connor's camera. He was also keeping his own private record; this sharp personal essay distills the contradictions of the decade more insightfully than any other document in sight. He traces a tragedy far more profound than the destruction of the forest, namely a series of misunderstandings that have bred like bacteria. People of our world, as O'Connor demonstrates in clip after clip, have a bad habit of celebrating "the noble savage", only to turn on the tribesmen themselves when they turn out to be, of all things, human. Poor Payakan is helpless against the temptations of money, Range Rovers and other toys- as things progress, he is crucified for it. It's a mean pathology to which O'Connor's clarifying eye, and intellect, form a vital antidote.